Around this time of year (or any time of the year, for that matter), everyone is looking for cookie recipes. Here is a Nan Khatai (Indian Tea or Coffee biscuits) recipe that is so simple that you’ll want to whip up a batch right now! With no frills, no fancy ingredients and no eggs, even the kids can take part in this yummy baking experience!
Prep Time: 5 minutes (plus 15-20 mins dough resting time)
Bake Time: 22 – 25 minutes
Makes: approx 12 cookies
Ingredients:
Unsalted Butter – 1 stick (1/2 cup, 4 oz) at room temperature
Powdered Sugar – 1/2 cup
Nutmeg Powder – 1/4 tsp
Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp
All Purpose Flour (Maida) – 1 cup
Baking Powder – 1/4 tsp
Salt – 1/8 tsp
Method:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F or 150 degress C.
1. In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar (little at a time) with the softened butter until mixture is light and creamy.
2. Add Nutmeg Powder and Cardamom Powder and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift All Purpose Flour with Baking Powder and Salt.
4. Combine Flour mixture (little at a time) with Butter Mixture to form a soft dough.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
6. Knead dough once again and divide into 12 equal portions.
7. Roll each portion into a smooth ball with no cracks and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax/parchment paper or lightly greased foil. Leave ample space between dough balls.
7. Bake on the middle rack for 22-25 minutes (keep a close eye – nan khatai should remain white).
8. Remove from oven and let the nan khatai cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely before eating.
9. Store in an air tight container at room temperature.
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Hi Hetal/Anuja,
Thanks for the recipe. I have a question for you. My 5 yr old daughter is allergic to milk products and she loves cookies and biscuits. What can be used instead of butter in the recipe and how much? It would be great if you can help me out with this. She has been recently diagnosed with the allergy, so trying to make everything at home to be on safer side.
Cheers!!
Hi Harjeet,
You can always replace butter with Margarine. It has no dairy product.
Hi Hetal, thank you so much for your reply.
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
I want to thank you profusely for this recipe. I made it for the first time yesterday ad they came out perfect!!!!!!I love their appearance, their shape, their texture, everything about it. i am so please with myself 🙂 I was just wondering if next time I can use 1/2 cup maida and 1/2 cup sooji instead of 1 cup maida for the nan khatais. Also have you tried besan nan khatais?? Can you please suggest??
Hi Debamitra,
We are pretty sure you can increase the amount of Suji but the texture will be more grainy compared to now..besan is definitely, an option – but a different recipe…
Love this site!! Wanted to try making nankhatai in a couple of days, can I possibly use olive oil instead of butter? If so, how much do I use?
Thanks for such easy and great recipes! 🙂
i also added lots of flour to it still was sticky.
hi ladies,
i tried this today and it was a big disaster 🙁 i dont know what went wrong? the dugh was sticky sticky and sticky.plz help.
payal
Hi, ladies. nice job. One question, Since my husband is diabetic Can we use splenda instead of powdered sugar ?
I tried the recipe, it was fine but the top was powdery. Please could you advise where i went wrong?
Hi
I tried this recipe , the taste was great but my nan khatais totally melted flat and became crispy as a result ? How can i fix this ? The dough seemed right when i was makibg the balls. What could be the problem? 🙁
Hi Zee,
You can refrigerate the dough for about an hour…it should help the shape.
hello for nankhatai for 250g ghee I put how much sugar, yeast, flour and cardamom please? it is for a Hindu ceremony.thank you to answer me as soon as possible please
Awesome.. Me and my husband loved them… Thanks for this great easy to bake recipe.. never buying them from store now on..
Hi, Hetal & Anuja
I tried this recipe today, it came out very well. i watch and experiment so many recipe from your website. Even tried marble cake, which also came out well. i just need to know if nan khatai can be done in spicy version..
Hi Vathsala,
You may not be able to modify this particular recipe because sugar is a big ingredient. There are savory biscuits usually flavored with cumin (jeera) that are similar to nan khatai but we don’t have the exact recipe for you at this time.
hi hetal and anuja,
for nankhatai for 250g ghee I put how much sugar, yeast, flour and cardamom please?
Hi djayani,
Our measurement for butter is 4 ounces which roughly equals 115g. So for 250g ghee, you would have to double all of the ingredients we have listed. You may have to add just a bit of extra flour to get it to the right consistency. Having said that, we have not tried this recipe with ghee so don’t have exact measurements. Also, yeast is not used in our recipe.
hi hetal,
thank you very much but what is the powder paste please? for me it was baking powder yeast.